The State Dinner
OSCAR NOMINEE STOCKARD CHANNING GUEST-STARS -- As that night's stylish state dinner honoring the Indonesian president looms in the background, President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) keeps his eye on a spate of potentially explosive problems: an FBI hostage standoff with dozens of militant survivalists, a Class-4 hurricane bearing down on a carrier group at sea and an impending national trucker's strike. Behind the scenes, the gracious First Lady (Oscar nominee Stockard Channing) prepares to host the dinner, a pushy reporter (guest star Timothy Busfield) flirts with C.J. (Allison Janney), Josh (Bradley Whitford) and Toby (Richard Schiff) corner an Indonesian government official to ask a favor, and a surprised Sam (Rob Lowe) spies his call girl friend Laurie (guest star Lisa Edelstein) at the event. Summary Cast :Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn :Moira Kelly as Mandy Hampton :Dulé Hill as Charlie Young :Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg :Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler :John Spencer as Leo McGarry :Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman :and Martin Sheen as President Bartlet Special Guest Star :Stockard Channing as Abigail Bartlet'''First appearance of the First Lady '''Recurring cast :Lisa Edelstein as Laurie :Timothy Busfield as Danny Concannon :Janel Moloney as Donna Moss Guest Starring :David Rasche as Carl Everett :Dennis Cockrum as Captain :John Kapelos as Seymour Little :Peter Kors as Rahmadi Sumahidjo Bambang :Sal Landi as Chafey :William Lucking as Bobby Russo :Steve Rankin as FBI Agent #2 :Jeff Williams as Harold Lewis Co-Starring :Kathryn Joosten as Dolores Landingham :Melissa Fitzgerald as Carol Fitzpatrick :Ariono Suriawinata as President Rahm Siguto of Indonesia :Nelson Mashita as Minaldi :Bradley James as a Donnie :Rod Porter as a Harry :Tyler Bowe as Gomez :Jacqueline Torres as Sondra :Mindy Seeger as Chris :Jana Lee Hamblin as Bobbi :J.P. Stevenson as a Jonathan (reporter) :Colin K. Gray as a BruceCAST NOTES — Ariono Suriawinata is credited by his character's title "President of Indonesia" although he is identified in dialogue as Rahm Siguto. Bradley James, J.P. Stevenson, and Colin K. Gray are credited by their character's jobs although they are named later. Quotes :President Bartlet: Talk to me each for five minutes and then we're going to settle this. :representatives move to sit down :President Bartlet: Stay standing . . . :Mrs. Bartlet: Actually I was actually looking for the President . . . :Sam Seaborn: He had to step out to the West Wing . . . :Mrs. Bartlet: Ahh. :Sam Seaborn: I'm not sure why . . . but I could go and . . . :Mrs. Bartlet: To pistol whip the trucking industry. :Sam Seaborn: Why would he . . . :Mrs. Bartlet: Because he can't save a gunshot victim and he can't stop a hurricane . . . Trivia *It is later revealed in the Season 2 episode "Two Cathedrals" that the tender ship USS Hickory - that the President talked to at the end of this episode - was sunk in the hurricane, presumably with all hands lost. ERRORS *President Bartlet threatens the striking truck workers that he would nationalize the trucking industry to avert the strike, using the precedent that Truman did it in 1952 to avert the coal mines. Truman actually seized the steel mills and his seizure was ruled unconstitutional in the Supreme court case ''Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer''. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0745706/goofs It is mentioned that the action was overturned in the episode. *Minaldi claims there is no such language as "Indonesian", but this isn't the case. While it is true that most Indonesians speak a local language as their first language, nearly all of them do speak Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), a standard register of Malay, and a senior politician like Siguto would definitely be fluent in it. *When they realize the Hurricane is heading out to sea Leo refers to the fleet as a "Battle Carrier Group". Properly it is a Carrier Battle Group. In addition, they also refer to two battleships in the fleet when in actuality they have been retired since 1992. *The hurricane is incorrectly referred to as a "Class 4". Strength of hurricanes are designated by "Category", not "Class". Therefore, the hurricane should have been referred to as a "Category 4" storm. *When the hurricane changes direction, the carrier group gets caught in it. This would never happen, as a carrier group can quite easily outpace a hurricane. *Charlie is worried about his grandparents on the coast of Georgia, but can’t reach them. Donna explains that they lost phone service “in parts of northeastern Georgia.” It is Southeast Georgia, not Northeast Georgia, that lies along the Atlantic coast. *Leo mispronounces “Norfolk” several times during the episode. The “L” is silent."The West Wing" The State Dinner (1999) — Quotes and trivia copied from IMDb Photos 107trio.png 107joby.png 107toby.png 108group.jpg Crew Opening credits #Aaron Sorkin - Creator #W.G. Snuffy Walden - Music #Michael Hissrich - Co-producer #Kristin Harms - Producer #Jeff Reno - Consulting Producer #Ron Osborn - Consulting Producer #Llewellyn Wells - Episodic Producer #Aaron Sorkin and #Paul Redford - Writers #Thomas Schlamme - Director Closing credits #Aaron Sorkin - Executive Producer #Thomas Schlamme - Executive Producer #John Wells - Executive Producer #Rick Cleveland - Co-producer #Peter Parnell - Executive Story Editor #Paul Redford - Story Editor #Patrick Caddell - Consultant #Dee Dee Myers - Consultant #Julie Herlocker - Associate Producer #Robert W. Glass, III - Associate Producer #Thomas Del Ruth - Director of Photography #Kenneth Hardy - Production Designer #Tina Hirsch - Editor #Robert P. Cohen - Unit Production Manager #Rodney Hooks - First Assistant Director #Stacy Fish - Second Assistant Director #Barbara Miller - Executive in Charge of Casting #John Levey - Casting #Kevin Scott - Casting Notes and references Category:Episodes Category:Season 1